On March 14, 1948, Douglas Hyde handed in his resignation as the news editor of the London Daily Worker and wrote "the end" to twenty years of his life as a member of the Communist Party. A week later, in a written statement, Hyde announced that he had renounced Communism and, with his wife and children, was joining the Catholic Church. The long pilgrimage from Communism to Christ carried Douglas Hyde from complete commitment to Marxism, to a questioning uneasiness about Soviet Russias glaring contradictions of ideology and action, to a final rejection of the Party.

In Dedication and Leadership, he advances the theory that although the goals and aims of Communism are antithetical to human dignity and the rights of the individual, there is much to be learned from communist methods, cadres and psychological motivation. Hyde describes the Communist mechanics of instilling dedication, the first prerequisite for leadership. Here is the complete rationale of party technique: how to stimulate the willingness to sacrifice; the advisibility of making big demands to insure a big response; the inspirational indoctrination; and the subtle conversion methods.

In this small book, so large with implications, Douglas Hyde comments on both Communist and Catholic potential and their lack of maximum effectiveness. He advocates positive Catholic action, not just a negative anti-Communism, and he points out that the guidelines are now down for a decisive choice between total Communism and a total Christianity.

Here is a realistic approach to an acute problem uncolored by emotional propaganda, and here is a realistic answer on how to inspire dedication for leadership

In the first three quarters of the twentieth century, communism moved from a minority political movement in a few European countries to become a major political force with over a third of the world’s population under its sway and signficant intellectual influence even in the countries that remained most opposed to it. Douglas Hyde was one of those who diligently to further its influence. In 1948, he surprised his friends and enemies alike by resigning his position as editor of the London based communist paper the Daily Worker and converting to Roman Catholicism with his family.
This book grew out of a series of lectures he conducted that tried to explain the successes of Communism to a Christian audience and to answer the question “Is there anything in Communist methods that can be adapted to serve nobler causes?”. The answer to that question is an emphatic yes. Hyde strips away the preconceptions of how Communists recruited and motivated party workers and how they developed them into leaders capable of developing other communist workers.

The main theme of the book is contained in the title. According to Hyde, dedication is a prerequisite for true leadership. The communists had a well defined purpose that every communist could understand and believe in: the hope of a Communist world. In pursuit of that goal, members were asked to make great sacrifices. Rather than driving people away, this demand draws out the idealistic element in them and inspires the sort of dedication needed.

Hyde develops this theme in a number of ways. He discusses how short term campaigns worked, how party education worked, how members were encouraged to excellence in other areas of their life in order to give the communist message credibility with non-Communists.

Looking at the state of communism today, one might question whether there is any value in this book after all. Indeed, Hyde faced the same question himself in the late 80s and refused a reprint of the book because he thought that communist commitment was no longer what was described in the book. In my opinion, the failure of communism was due to its successes proving its invalidity, not to the methods by which it had enjoyed those earlier successes. Militant Islam seems to be the ascendant ideology of our times, and to the limited degree that I am aware, it seems like the Islamists are employing similar techniques. If we are wise, we will choose to learn from them rather than dismissing them outright.

This is one of those rare books that demands the purchasing of multiple copies. You will want to keep one for yourself with all your underlinings and notes, and keep at least one to lend out. Any sort of organisation could benefit from the lessons to be learned here, but Hyde’s message is chiefly to Christians. Any believer distressed about the weak impact his church is having should immediately read this book.

What If Christians Had the Dedication of Communists?, September 20, 2010
By Fr. Charles Erlandson (Tyler, Texas United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)
This review is from: Dedication And Leadership (Paperback)
“Dedication and Leadership” began as Douglas Hyde’s attempt to answer the question: “Why are Communists so dedicated and successful as leaders whilst others so often are not?” As a former Communist editor who converted to Roman Catholicism, Hyde was well qualified to answer this question. His findings form an inspiring challenge to Christians to find the courage and dedication of the early Communists and use them in the service of something much better than Communism. He answers the question, “What can we learn from the Communist’s attitudes, methods and techniques”?

His answers are revelatory. In the first place, Communism appealed to the idealism of youth: if you wanted to change the world in the first half of the twentieth century you turned to the Communists, not to the Christians. Second, if you make little demands then you get little response, but if you call for big sacrifices people will respond. Also, in a materialistic world, the dedicated mans stands out. One of Hyde’s shrewdest observations is that most Communists don’t become Communists because of the doctrine but because of the impact made upon them by some dedicated Communist. Communism showed a remarkable faith in people with their slogan “Every Communist a leader.” Communists followed through with their call for sacrifice and leadership through preparation, training, and instruction. By sending its members out as soon as they joined, Communists forced their members to learn about their own inadequacy, which is the beginning of wisdom. As a result, the desire to learn came from within each Communist.

There is much more that Hyde has to say, but I’m sure you can see how powerful and useful this little book is. Essentially, it’s a book of wisdom and one that I find myself returning to every few years when I start a new venture on behalf of the Kingdom of God.

Being wise as a serpent chiefly means knowing where the serpent wants to strike and how, and taking preventive action to avert needlessly exposing one’s vulnerability. It doesn’t mean setting up a Serpent World within the church....

7
posted on 05/25/2013 3:36:02 PM PDT
by HiTech RedNeck
(How long before all this "fairness" kills everybody, even the poor it was supposed to help???)

Also I think of Paul’s admonition of becoming like everyone so that by any means he might save some (effectively sharing the gospel at their level). So “to save Communists, I became as a Communist” would make some sense. Just be careful....

10
posted on 05/25/2013 3:42:32 PM PDT
by HiTech RedNeck
(How long before all this "fairness" kills everybody, even the poor it was supposed to help???)

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